Home Sec Under Pressure Over Qatada Deportation

 The Home Secretary is facing demands for an urgent statement to Parliament amid the "confusion" over the Government's latest bid to deport the terrorist suspect Abu Qatada.

Lawyers for the radical cleric have lodged an appeal with Europe's human rights judges following his rearrest on Tuesday, effectively putting moves to return him to stand trial in his native Jordan on hold.

Theresa May dismissed it as a "delaying tactic" - insisting the deadline for an appeal passed on Monday - three months after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled he could be returned.

However, after the court refused to confirm that the Home Office had calculated the deadline correctly, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said she must return to the Commons to explain what had happened.

"We need urgent clarification from the Home Secretary on whether she got the timing wrong," Ms Cooper said.

"The Home Office are saying one thing, the European Court another. Why didn't they just agree the deadline in advance so there could be no opportunity for Abu Qatada or his lawyers to exploit?"

A miscalculation of the deadline would be a massive embarrassment for Mrs May and could again set back the authorities' long-running battle to put Qatada on a plane out of the country.

Mrs May was adamant on Wednesday that the time for an appeal ran out at midnight on Monday.

"This is a delaying tactic from Abu Qatada," she said.

"As you would expect, we have been in touch with the European court over the last three months to check our understanding.

"They were absolutely clear that we were operating on the basis that it was midnight on April 16."

A spokeswoman for the Strasbourg-based court said Qatada's appeal was lodged at 11pm local time (10pm BST) on Tuesday, but added: "We cannot comment on the
view taken by the UK authorities about when the deadline expired."

Prime Minister David Cameron has expressed his determination that Qatada would eventually be deported, no matter how long it took.

"I am absolutely clear, the entire Government is clear, and frankly I think the country is clear, that this man has no right to be in our country.

"He is a threat to our security, he has absolutely no further call on our hospitality and he should be deported."

The latest appeal is separate from any others that Qatada's legal team may make over the decision by Mrs May to continue with his deportation after receiving assurances from Jordan that evidence gained through torture would not be used against him.

Instead it relates to a different strand of the original decision of the Strasbourg-based court which found that the 51-year-old could be sent back to Jordan with diplomatic assurances that he would not be tortured.

He is currently behind bars after a senior immigration judge ruled his imminent deportation meant the risk he could try to flee while on bail had increased.

But his lawyers have said they will challenge all moves to deport him and Mrs May has warned MPs that it may still be "many months" before Qatada can be lawfully kicked out.

The move comes as the 47 member nations of the Council of Europe meet in Brighton for talks aimed at reforming the court and the types of cases it hears.